On April 13, Clinton’s Board of Finance approved a revised $50,381,256 town and education budget that next goes to town meeting on Wednesday, May 4 and then to referendum on Wednesday, May 11. The budget represents a $1,088,438 or 2.21 percent annual spending increase.

The board’s decision came after a public hearing where community members weighed in on specifics of the two proposed budgets and discussed the effects of possible decreases in state education funding. Under this budget, town spending would rise $710,413 or 4.28 percent to $17,292,900 and schools spending would rise $378,025 or 1.16 percent to $33,088,356.

While a number of residents spoke in favor of passing the budget as is, some asked for increased funding in certain areas.

Dolly Mezzetti requested an additional $30,000 in Elderly Tax Benefits. With a growing number of seniors applying for tax relief, she said, the $150,000 set aside to help them should be increased to its maximum level of $180,000.

First Selectman Bruce Farmer asked the board to restore $7,000 in funding for a pump-out boat.

“To quote the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection,” the first selectman said, “there is more bacteria in untreated waste discharged by one boat than in the treated wastewater discharged by a small city. Frankly, the Town of Clinton has already committed to moving forward on cleaning up our wastewater issues as mandated by the state.

“We are moving forward on all levels to handle this wastewater, storm-water, provide safe drinking water, close out our septage lagoons, reestablish our fishing and oyster beds, and so on,” Farmer continued. “In fact, prior to having the pump-out boat, in 2013, Clinton had one of the dirtiest beaches in the area. During the 2015 boating season, over 16,000 gallons of waste were removed by the pump-out vessel. This is a specialized vessel—maintained, stored, fueled, staffed, and insured. The pump-out program is a nonprofit run not only for the boaters but for the Town of Clinton as well.”

Anticipating deep cuts in state aid to towns this legislative session, other residents suggested that Clinton’s budget be trimmed to reflect a new economic reality. Noting that the state Appropriations Committee’s proposed cuts in state funding to Clinton represent the second largest decrease in the state, Vincent Cimino recommended a one-percent decrease in every line item in the town’s budget.

“We need to tighten the belt,” Cimino said.

“This is not a sustainable budget,” said Clinton Taxpayers Association President Pam Fritz. “This is a tax time bomb. We don’t know where we’re going to stand with regard to state funding. The re-val just hit Clinton with a lot of tax increases, even though incomes are down. Increasing taxes is not a good idea at this time; 178 taxpayers have appealed their re-vals—an unprecedented number.”

Fritz said that Main Street’s empty storefronts and the debt service to pay for the new Morgan School are other considerations.

Selectman Carol Walter asked the board to table the budget and hold off on finalizing it until the State of Connecticut passes its own budget. (The 2016 Connecticut General Assembly session ends Wednesday, May 4; however, few are optimistic that legislators will actually pass a state budget before that deadline. Instead, it’s expected that the legislature will go into special session.)

Earlier this month, the state legislature’s Appropriations Committee recommended a budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1 that reduces both education and general government grants to municipalities by a total of almost $68 million below the level in the preliminary 2016-’17 budget.

Municipal aid cuts at the levels proposed would force property tax hikes in many cities and towns. To add to the problem, because local budgets need to be resolved in the coming weeks, community leaders are not in a position to wait and see what comes out of the State Capitol.

The Educational Cost Sharing (ECS) grant is the state’s primary payment to help municipalities run their schools.

“Up until this time, the ECS grant for Clinton was supposed to be $6,459,513,” said Board of Finance Chairman Jack Scherban.

The state Appropriations Committee, however, proposed reducing ECS aid to Clinton by more than $1.5 million. The amount budgeted for municipal revenue sharing for Clinton was $386,660—a figure that the Appropriations Committee did not recommend cutting. Governor Dannel Malloy, on the other hand, recommended reducing Clinton’s ECS grant by $287,554 and municipal revenue sharing by $323,318.

Speaking in favor of passing Clinton’s budget with no further cuts, PTA President Erica Gelven said at the public hearing, “I encourage the Board of Finance to please put this forward to the voters.”

Kim Buckley added, “What’s happening at the state doesn’t change the needs of our town or its children.”

At a special meeting following the public hearing, the Board of Finance voted to put $7,000 back into the other general government pump-out boat line item. The motion was approved with a vote of five in favor (Traynor, Scully Welch, Scherban, Nejdl, and Saunders) and one opposed (Olsen).

The board unanimously approved a total operational budget of $17,292,900 for the town. The Board of Education operational budget of $33,088,356 also passed, with a vote of five in favor (Traynor, Olsen, Scully Welch, Scherban, and Saunders) and one opposed (Nejdl).

The board voted to transfer $794,334 from the self-insurance revenue side and reduce $652,584 from Education Cost Sharing, for a total of $5,806,929. The motion passed with a vote of four in favor (Traynor, Scully Welch, Olsen, and Scherban) and two opposed (Saunders and Nejdl).

“It’s a major challenge with estimating the revenue side,” said Scherban. “I think we’ll come out OK in the end, but the timing is just awful.”

Clinton’s annual budget meeting is scheduled for May 4 at 7 p.m. at Andrews Memorial Town Hall, after which it adjourns to a town referendum on May 11.